The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) was one of the first purpose-built night fighters ever, and the first production aircraft with an ejection seat. It was also a seriously imposing beast.
Mimicking reality, Zoukei-Mura has released a seriously imposing kit as No. 6 in its 1/32 scale “Super Wings” series. The huge box contains 484 luxuriously detailed parts. This Owl is intended to be a tour-de-force in the inner workings of the subject, including the skeletal structure of the wings — but most parts must be cleaned, squared, sanded, and/or scraped to fit.
The kit is billed as an He 219A-0, the first of the production machines to see combat. There are two decal options in the kit, both using the same armament and radar options, but no optional parts for other versions or configurations. Although they aren’t referenced anywhere in the retro “Pilot’s Notes”-style instruction booklet, there are two versions of swastikas included in halves to place on your Owl. You’ll need references to determine which set is appropriate. The comprehensive instructions include numerous detail, alignment, and painting notes, as well as photos of subassemblies. The build sequence is logical, but if you work on multiple sections at the same time, as I did, you will need to mind where the major subassemblies meet up; there is a lot of mating and slotting between them.
To save time, I opened just one side of the aircraft. This allowed me to leave out numerous engine details, most of the weapons, and even some of the rear fuselage details that cannot be seen once the kit is assembled.
The Owl’s office is outstanding. I used kit decals for the individual instruments; all fit well and settled in nicely with setting solution. For this and all other assemblies that affect the nose, great care must be taken to align and firmly seat all joints.
The center section rivals the cockpit for complexity, including a mechanic’s jump seat (complete with molded seat belts) and the entire 30mm inclined cannon (known as Schräge Musik, or Jazz Music). I deviated slightly from the instructions by installing the guns on the bulkhead to obtain the correct angle, rather than floating in space on the ammo cans.
Three bulkheads go in the center of the aircraft (parts F-3, F-4, and F-7); they are key to the strength and alignment of the fuselage and the wing. I assembled them apart from the fuselage and checked both vertical and horizontal spacing and alignment with a square to ensure my Owl didn’t have a crooked back.
The forward bulkheads, F-2 and F-8, are also keys for strength. This is where I got bit by my Owl — the forwardmost bulkhead, F-2, must be placed far enough away from the edge to allow tabs on the cockpit to slot fully. Remember my warning about building multiple sequences at once? If you install the oxygen bottles in the rear fuselage, make sure they are far enough below the attachment plane of the fuselage molding or they will interfere. I toyed with the idea of opening up the under-fuselage cannon tray, but the structure has numerous mold-line mismatches and flash. In the end, I kept everything closed and added more nose weight to assuage my fear of tail-sitting.
The kit provides a cleverly molded nose weight for the forward gas tank; unfortunately, it is too big. I had to remove all the assembly tabs, scrape some material away, and use heavy-duty clamps to get everything together.
The rest of the fuselage panels fit well after careful trimming and squaring of corners, and the whole tail-surface assembly was a breeze — no gaps, no filler. The wings are as complicated as the fuselage. Again, the skeletal structure is rife with large mold-line mismatches and flash.
Detail on the engines and landing gear is astounding. Spark-plug wires and brake lines are included. The high fidelity extends to accurately lapped panel joints instead of simple scribed lines. Thanks to careful fuselage alignment, the wing mated perfectly with the fuselage. Applying skin to my Owl, I was pleased to see the wing panels fit perfectly to the fuselage and cowlings. I did have to clamp the wing-root fairings to the fuselage to get them to fit.
Z-M offers optional cast-metal landing gear; although it requires more cleanup than the plastic parts, I highly recommend it to support the model’s weight. The tolerances are close in the gear bays, but everything fits. The position of the drop-down boarding ladder was a bit vague.
After I added the control surfaces, my Owl was ready for prime time. I painted top surfaces with Testors dark gray RLM 75, followed by RLM 76 light blue lines; the result looks like random gray dots, just like the original (I hope). The decals are thin and agreeable to setting solution, but they can tear if abused. A bit of weathering, a flat coat, and I was able to attach the myriad assemblies and parts, such as the engine and landing gear.
I spent an involved 85 hours on my Owl, and I could have — and should have — spent more. This is a kit that will reward loving care. The complexity and fit adjustments call for an experienced builder — but if you are up to the task, you should have a hoot.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the January 2014 FineScale Modeler.